Masterpieces of English engraving from the 18th – 19th centuries. From the collection of the Kaluga Museum of Fine Arts Automatic translate

The exhibition will feature 48 works of printed graphics by famous English masters, of which 20 sheets are of a huge format, uncharacteristic of the usual size of engravings. These monumental sheets, distinguished by their superb print quality, impress not only with their exceptional size, but also with the majesty and sophistication of their compositions.

The exhibition presents a panorama of the leading artistic trends in English art of two centuries - from the social criticism that characterizes the Age of Enlightenment to the free figurative solutions of romanticism. Traditional gospel stories stand side by side with works reflecting new trends: the exhibition includes animalistic, landscape, and subject compositions.

A significant part of the works included in the collection were executed in techniques that in Europe were commonly called the “English manner”: this is the mezzotint technique invented by the Dutchman Ludwig von Siegen and the dotted manner imported from the continent, known since the end of the 19th century as the dotted line technique.

The exhibition will include early examples of British mezzotints, including works by James Caldwell and William Ward, and superb mid-19th-century prints by Frederick Stackpoole and Henry Cousins.